Ronaldo to the rescue! Cristiano ready to solve big Man Utd problem

Robin Bairner

• 24 Jan 2024 08:27 GMT
• 3 min read

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr are poised to do Manchester United a major favour by signing unwanted stars Casemiro and Aaron Wan-Bissaka from the Old Trafford club.

Man Utd have struggled to offload their deadwood in recent seasons, but the emergence of the Saudi Pro League has opened the door to new possibilities in the transfer market.

The Daily Mail reports that the Red Devils could make valuable room in their squad by offloading both Casemiro, whose form has nosedived this season, and Wan-Bissaka, who is struggling to feature regularly ahead of Diogo Dalot at Old Trafford.

Wan-Bissaka is contracted to Man Utd until 2025 after the Old Trafford club triggered their option for an additional year on his contract but Crystal Palace and West Ham are monitoring his situation.

But while there is an obvious exit door for the former England U21 international, that is not the case for Casemiro, whose wages of around €440,000 per week will be difficult to offload given that he is under contract until 2026 and will turn 32 next month.

Ronaldo wants close friend Casemiro at Al-Nassr

Ronaldo, though, is coming to Man Utd’s rescue in this case. He is apparently driving the move for the Brazil international, with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner said to be “encouraging” a move from a player who featured alongside the Portugal legend with both Real Madrid and Man Utd.

Casemiro previously admitted to United’s official website that Ronaldo was one of the players he was “closest” to at Old Trafford along with Dalot, Antony and Fred.

The news of Al-Nassr’s double swoop, which has not been given a valuation, comes at a time when there are doubts over the viability of the long-term future of the Saudi Pro League as a genuine rival to European football.

Jordan Henderson has already departed the Middle East after less than six months, moving to Ajax, while there are reports that Karim Benzema, arguably their most high-profile star, is unhappy.

These have effectively been corroborated by Aymeric Laporte, who admitted that many European players are unhappy having moved to the Pro League for big money in the summer, although he subsequently distanced himself from this quote.